Israel outsource to Palestine

You might be surprised but it is true. The peace talks may not be working out between the governments of Israel and Palestine, but an increasing number of Israeli high-tech companies are doing work with their Palestinian counterparts in the West Bank.

Israeli CEOs say it's their way of bringing a little bit of peace to their troubled corner of the world. But the real reason they're hiring Palestinians, they acknowledge, is because it simply makes good business sense.

Israel's high-tech industry is among the country's crowning achievements. Israel has the most start-ups per capita in the world and has helped produce such game-changing innovations as instant messaging and Internet telephony. Many Israeli tech firms send work offshore to eastern Europe, India or China.

In the past three years, however, some have turned to Palestinian engineers and programmers. They are cheaper, ambitious, work in the same time zone, and - surprisingly to many Israelis - are remarkably similar to them.

Although the Palestinian workers cost less to the Israeli companies than do Israelis, they still earn on average more than say their Indian or Chinese counterparts, and more importantly – than the average Palestinian salary in the West Bank (and certainly more than in Gaza, where such ‘collaboration’ would be tantamount to treason in the eyes of the ruling Hamas). It is an opportunity for them not just to put food on the table for their families, but like their Israeli counterparts, also a chance to make a positive contribution to peace between the two people. 

A little to learn for political leaders from the companies with in their countries.